To answer the original question.....
This is an interesting read from Chairman, of the House Armed Services Committee,
Rep Buck McKeon. He puts this "Occupy Wall Street Protest" in a different light.
United States Congressman
Serving the 25th District of California
Our Armed Services Are The Real 1 Percent
In parks and city squares across the nation, AmericaÂ’s youth claim that
they are “the 99 percent.” That is, the 99 percent of Americans the Occupy
Wall Street group believes are struggling through economic hardships and
inequality.
Their villain is the 1 percent — the purveyors of power who the movement
holds accountable for our fiscal woes.
As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I support a somewhat
different 1 percent. Despite ten years of war, we have been kept safe by 1
percent of Americans who have volunteered to wear the uniform, volunteered
to stand a post and volunteered to keep us safe.
At a time when our nation faces such grave financial challenges and we
debate vigorously over how to right our fiscal ship, we must remember that
we are a nation at war, and that every day our troops leave the wire, walk
long patrols across unforgiving terrain, keeping us free from harm, bearing
hardships in the name of our flag and our freedom.
The deeds and actions of Occupy Wall Street boast household recognition.
But how many households know Army Specialist Jesse Snow?
During a tough fight in Afghanistan, Snow crawled on his belly into
withering enemy fire, dragging two of his wounded teammates back towards a
friendly position using his body as a shield and giving his life to save his
comrades.
How many know Capt. Ademola Fabayo, an immigrant from Nigeria who was
awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic plunge into an intense firefight, in
an attempt in vain to save four of his Marines?
Several months ago, I visited Fort Jackson, S.C., to watch 500 new
recruits graduate from U.S. Army Basic training. They stood quietly and
proudly at attention, with adoring families looking on, having volunteered
to serve their nation during wartime. Eight of those young men and women
were immigrants, earning their citizenship through their service. I am very
proud that my granddaughter was among them.
They were among the 1 percent who volunteered to wear the uniform, so that
the 99 percent can assemble and speak out free from fear of the draft.
It is instructive to consider the stark differences between these two
different youth movements.
The 99 percent argues its poverty using $300 smart phones. The 1 percent
endures long hours, modest pay and the harshness of combat, but demands
nothing.
The 99 percent demands that the government pay back their student loans,
often for expensive degrees in academic fields not adequate to compete in
todayÂ’s tough employment market.
The 1 percent who wear the uniform enters into a social compact with the
government, offering four years of wartime service in exchange for a GI Bill
that will cover the cost of tuition at a state, not private, university.
Some soldiers attend night classes after a full day of work, disrupting
their education for long deployments to places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 99 percent insist that they be provided full benefits, retirement and
health care, simply for being born a U.S. citizen.
But when Washington discussed cutting military benefits, retirement, and
health care, the 1 percent in uniform sat quietly by, pressing on with their
service and their sacrifices.
The 99 percent insists our enemies are internal, loudly lamenting their
misfortune due the schemes of an ever-changing host of antagonists. But the
1 percent in uniform does not complain, does not lament, does not fall
victim to self pity or doubt.
They quietly fight a real enemy, one that would do great harm and bring
horrific violence to our fellow citizens if only afforded the opportunity.
Over the last several months, Washington has stalled over how to resolve
AmericaÂ’s debt crisis. In this debate, some have set up a series of false
choices, pretending that higher taxes and more domestic spending could make
our nation prosperous again and that cuts to our military will not make us
less safe.
In reality, the 1 percent in uniform have taken on an enormously tough job
in an increasingly dangerous world, one they continue to perform though
politicians in Washington threaten to cut their equipment and benefits
dramatically.
I have made it my mission to ensure that these false choices are exposed
and our obligations to those who serve — and those who have served before
them — are met first.
This week, we learned that the committee formed for and charged with
finding needed savings has failed to do its job, and now, unfortunately,
AmericaÂ’s military is facing cuts that will devastate the armed forces and
force us to break faith with service members. I do not accept that outcome.
Our military has already contributed nearly a half-trillion dollars to
deficit reduction. Those who have given us so much, have nothing more to
give.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said he doesnÂ’t want to be the
secretary who hollows out defense. Likewise, I will not be the armed
services chairman who presides over crippling our military. I will not let
these sequestration cuts stand. I will be introducing legislation in the
coming days to prevent cuts that will do catastrophic damage to our men and
women in uniform and our national security
We should not seek to disparage legitimate concerns about the tough
economic hardships plaguing our nation. But nor should we look to this
protest movement as a viable exponent of recovery or revitalization.
It is the 1 percent, not the 99 percent, that will bring its integrity and
its character into law, government and business and spread it to all corners
of society. They are our greatest hope, and they are our way forward.
LetÂ’s pause and remember that this special class of citizen, this 1
percent, is the model for citizenship, service and salvation from our
despair and our woes.
Buck McKeon
Member of Congress
